• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제55권10호
• /
• pp.3617-3627
• /
• 2023

This study presents a method to solidify spent ion-exchange resin (IER) in a metakaolin-based geopolymer and shows results of mechanical strength, immersion, leaching, irradiation, and thermal cycling tests for waste acceptance criteria (WAC) to repository. The geopolymer waste form with 20 wt% of simulated spent IER met the WAC in South Korea (ROK), and the leaching tests of various sized-waste forms up to 15.0 × 30.0 cm and waste loadings up to 20 wt% for 1-5 d and 1-90 d achieved a leachability index, L_i > 6. In a leaching test for 5 d, the cumulative fraction leached (CFL) for Cs, which leached the most, was linearly correlated with the square root of leaching time for all waste forms, and L_i increased as the size of the waste form increased. The CFL was also correlated with elapsed time in the 90 d leaching test. The correlations among CFL, time, and volume-to-surface area ratio of waste forms used to estimate the L_i of Cs of a 200-L sized geopolymer with 15 wt% IER showed the L_i values as 14.73 (5 d) and 17.71 (90 d), respectively, indicating that the large-sized geopolymer waste form met the WAC.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제6권4호
• /
• pp.345-362
• /
• 2018

In this paper, mechanical and short-term durability properties of fly ash and slag based geopolymer concretes (FAGPC-SGPC) were investigated. The alkaline solution was prepared with a mixture of sodium silicate solution ($Na_2SiO_3$) and sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) for geopolymer concretes. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete was also produced for comparison. Main objective of the study was to examine the usability of geopolymer concretes instead of the ordinary Portland cement concrete for structural use. In addition to this, this study was aimed to make a contribution to standardization process of the geopolymer concretes in the construction industry. For this purpose; SGPC, FAGPC and OPC specimens were exposed to sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$), magnesium sulfate ($MgSO_4$) and sea water (NaCl) solutions with concentrations of 5%, 5% and 3.5%, respectively. Visual inspection and weight change of the specimens were evaluated in terms of durability aspects. For the mechanical aspects; compression, splitting tensile and flexural strength tests were conducted before and after the chemical attacks to investigate the residual mechanical strengths of geopolymer concretes under chemical attacks. Results indicated that SGPC (100% slag) is stronger and durable than the FAGPC due to more stable and strong cross-linked alumina-silicate polymer structure. In addition, FAGPC specimens (100% fly ash) showed better durability resistance than the OPC specimens. However, FAGPC specimens (100% fly ash) demonstrated lower mechanical performance as compared to OPC specimens due to low reactivity of fly ash particles, low amount of calcium and more porous structure. Among the chemical environments, sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) was most dangerous environment for all concrete types.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
• /
• 제19권5호
• /
• pp.378-382
• /
• 2018

It is a known fact that the cement production is responsible for almost 5% of total worldwide $CO_2$ emission, the primary factor affecting global warming. Geopolymers are valuable as ordinary Portland cement (OPC) substitutes because geopolymers release 80% less $CO_2$ than OPC and have mechanical properties sufficiently similar to those of OPC. Therefore, geopolymers have proven attractive to eco-friendly construction industries. Geopolymers can be fabricated from aluminum silicate materials with alkali activators such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, and so on. Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) slag has been used for fabricating geopolymers. In general, IGCC slag geopolymers are fabricated with finely ground and sieved (<128 mesh) IGCC slag. The grinding process of as-received IGCC slag is one of the main costs in geopolymer production. Therefore, the idea of using as-received IGCC slag (before grinding the IGCC slag) as aggregates in the geopolymer matrix was introduced to reduce production cost as well as to enhance compressive strength. As-received IGCC slag (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 wt%) was added in the geopolymer mixing process and the mixtures were compared. The compressive strength of geopolymers with an addition of 10 wt% as-received IGCC slag increased by 19.84% compared to that with no additional as-received IGCC slag and reached up to 41.20 MPa. The enhancement of compressive strength is caused by as-received IGCC slag acting as aggregates in the geopolymer matrix like aggregates in concrete. The density of geopolymers slightly increased to $2.1-2.2g/cm^3$ with increasing slag addition. Therefore, it is concluded that a small addition of as-received IGCC slag into the geopolymer can increase compressive strength and decrease the total cost of the product. Moreover, the direct use of as-received IGCC slag may contribute to environment protection by reducing process time and $CO_2$ emission.

• 한국재료학회지
• /
• 제34권3호
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2024

Geopolymer, also known as alkali aluminum silicate, is used as a substitute for Portland cement, and it is also used as a binder because of its good adhesive properties and heat resistance. Since Davidovits developed Geopolymer matrix composites (GMCs) based on the binder properties of geopolymer, they have been utilized as flame exhaust ducts and aircraft fire protection materials. Geopolymer structures are formed through hydrolysis and dehydration reactions, and their physical properties can be influenced by reaction conditions such as concentration, reaction time, and temperature. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of silica size and aging time on the mechanical properties of composites. Commercial water glass and kaolin were used to synthesize geopolymers, and two types of silica powder were added to increase the silicon content. Using carbon fiber mats, a fiber-reinforced composite material was fabricated using the hand lay-up method. Spectroscopy was used to confirm polymerization, aging effects, and heat treatment, and composite materials were used to measure flexural strength. As a result, it was confirmed that the longer time aging and use of nano-sized silica particles were helpful in improving the mechanical properties of the geopolymer matrix composite.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• 제52권3호
• /
• pp.293-312
• /
• 2024

Researchers are actively investigating the potential for utilizing alternative materials in construction to tackle the environmental and economic challenges linked to traditional concrete-based materials. Nevertheless, conventional laboratory methods for testing the mechanical properties of concrete are both costly and time-consuming. The limitations of traditional models in predicting the tensile strength of concrete composited with geopolymer have created a demand for more advanced models. Fortunately, the increasing availability of data has facilitated the use of machine learning methods, which offer powerful and cost-effective models. This paper aims to explore the potential of several machine learning methods in predicting the tensile strength of geopolymer concrete under different curing conditions. The study utilizes a dataset of 221 tensile strength test results for geopolymer concrete with varying mix ratios and curing conditions. The effectiveness of the machine learning models is evaluated using additional unseen datasets. Based on the values of loss functions and evaluation metrics, the results indicate that most models have the potential to estimate the tensile strength of geopolymer concrete satisfactorily. However, the Takagi Sugeno fuzzy model (TSF) and gene expression programming (GEP) models demonstrate the highest robustness. Both the laboratory tests and machine learning outcomes indicate that geopolymer concrete composed of 50% fly ash and 40% ground granulated blast slag, mixed with 10 mol of NaOH, and cured in an oven at 190°F for 28 days has superior tensile strength.

• 한국결정성장학회지
• /
• 제27권1호
• /
• pp.47-56
• /
• 2017

본 연구에서는 Alumina 골재를 사용한 fly ash-blast furnace slag계 Geopolymer의 내열성 건축자재로서의 사용 가능성을 검토하기 위하여 고온조건에서의 열적 특성에 대하여 조사하였다. 모든 배합조건에서 Geopolymer 경화체의 표면 크랙은 $800^{\circ}C$까지는 관찰되지 않았으며, 이것은 열처리 전후 강도의 변화가 작은 것과 일치한다. 또한, $800^{\circ}C$까지 고로슬래그의 혼합비율이 60 wt%일 때 잔존압축강도가 가장 우수한 것으로 나타났다. Geopolymer 경화체의 주요 수화 생성물은 $20{\sim}35^{\circ}$(2theta) 범위의 비정질 halo 패턴과 원재료의 mullite($3Al_2O_3{\cdot}2SiO_2$)와 quartz($SiO_2$)가 확인되었다. 비정질 halo 패턴은 Geopolymer 축중합 반응에 의해서 생성된 aluminosilicate gel이며, $800^{\circ}C$까지는 aluminosilicate gel의 halo 패턴이 유지되고 있음을 알 수 있다. $1,000^{\circ}C$에서 aluminosilicate gel의 패턴은 사라지며 열처리온도의 증가와 함께 gehlenite, calcium silicate, calcium aluminum oxide, microcline와 같은 결정상이 관찰되었다.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• 제7권3호
• /
• pp.193-202
• /
• 2013

Geopolymer mortar compressed blocks were prepared using fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume and metakaolin as binders and sand/quarry dust/pond ash as fine aggregate. Alkaline solution was used to activate the source materials for synthesizing the geopolymer mortar. Fresh mortar was used to obtain the compressed blocks. The strength development with reference to different parameters was studied. The different parameters considered were fineness of fly ash, binder components, type of fine aggregate, molarity of alkaline solution, age of specimen, fluid-to-binder ratio, binder-to-aggregate ratio, degree of saturation, etc. The compressed blocks were tested for compression at different ages. It was observed that some of the blocks attained considerable strength within 24 h under ambient conditions. The cardinal aim was to analyze the experimental data generated to formulate a phenomenological model to arrive at the combinations of the ingredients to produce geopolymer blocks to meet the strength development desired at the specified age. The strength data was analyzed within the framework of generalized Abrams' law. It was interesting to note that the law was applicable to the analysis of strength development of partially saturated compressed blocks when the degree of saturation was maintained constant. The validity of phenomenological model was examined with an independent set of experimental data. The blocks can replace the traditional masonry blocks with many advantages.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• 제6권1호
• /
• pp.29-45
• /
• 2018

This paper investigates the effect of inclusion of glass fibers on mechanical and fracture properties of binary blend geopolymer concrete produced by using fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag. To study the effect of glass fibers, the mix design parameters like binder content, alkaline solution/binder ratio, sodium hydroxide concentration and aggregate grading were kept constant. Four different volume fractions (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4%) and two different lengths (6 mm, 13 mm) of glass fibers were considered in the present study. Three different notch-depth ratios (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) were considered for determining the fracture properties. The test results indicated that the addition of glass fibers improved the flexural strength, split tensile strength, fracture energy, critical stress intensity factor and critical crack mouth opening displacement of geopolymer concrete. 13 mm fibers are found to be more effective than 6 mm fibers and the optimum dosage of glass fibers was found to be 0.3% (by volume of concrete). The study shows the enormous potential of glass fiber reinforced geopolymer concrete in structural applications.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• 제9권1호
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 2015

The critical element for sustainable growth in the construction industry is the development of alternative cements. A new technological process called geopolymerization provides an innovative solution, and the presence of aluminum and silicon oxides in fly ash has encouraged its use as a source material. Many previous investigations have involved curing the binder in a heated environment. To reduce energy consumption during the synthesis of geopolymers, the present study investigated the properties of ambient cured geopolymer mortar at early ages. An experimental program was executed to establish a relationship between the activator composition and the properties of geopolymer mortar in fresh and hardened states. Concentrations of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate were ascertained that are advantageous for constructability and mechanical behavior. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques were also used to characterize the material. Test results indicate that there is potential for the concrete industry to use fly ash based geopolymer as an alternative to portland cement.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• 제4권3호
• /
• pp.181-195
• /
• 2016

Addition of nano-$SiO_2$ (NS) to geopolymer composites has been studied through measurement of compressive strengths, FTIR and XRD analysis. Alumino-silicate materials are coarse aggregate included waste concrete and demolished walls with its cementing binder, cement kiln dust (CKD) used and can possess a pronouncing activation for the geopolymer reaction resulting from the high alkali contents within. Materials prepared at water/binder ratios in a range of 0.30: 0.40 under curing of $40^{\circ}C$ and 100% Relative Humidity (R.H.), while the used activator is sodium hydroxide in the ratio of 2 wt. %. First, CKD is added in the ratio from 10 up to 50 wt., %, and the demolished walls was varied depending on the used CKD content, while using constant ratio of waste concrete (40 wt., %). Second step, depending on the optimum CKD ratio resulted from the first one (40 wt. %), so the control geopolymer mix composed of cement kiln dust, demolished walls and waste concrete in the ratio (40:20:40, wt %). Nano-silica partially replaced waste concrete by 1 up to 8%. Results indicated that, compressive strengths of geopolymer mixes incorporating nano-silica were obviously higher than those control one, especially at early ages and specially with 3%NS.